National Food Day Promotes Healthy Eating

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COLUMBIA - The MU Food Coalition, along with several other local food organizations, is hosting the Fair Food Fair on campus in Memorial Union Monday. The fair coincides with National Food Day, a day to spread awareness on eating healthy, affordable and sustainably grown food.

The United States Department of Agriculture ditched the dated food pyramid of the 90's and released a new guideline called My Plate this past June.

A few tips from My Plate include making half your plate food and vegetables, using smaller plates and bowls for smaller portions, and drinking water instead of sugary drinks.

Columbia farmer Rick Boudreau said eating healthy is important but it also keeps local economies alive. "All of the produce dollars that are normally going to Chile and Mexico and even just out of state are now staying in this area," Boudreau said. His company, Missouri Food 4 Missouri People, delivers locally grown produce to local schools, hospitals, and grocery stores.

"Everything that we sell is grown within a 100 miles of its end user. We also offer traceability where every box has a sticker on it that has a picked on date and a farmer number so we can trace every piece of produce back to the row it was picked and the day it was picked," Boudreau said.

The groups at MU's Fair Food Fair are hoping to spread awareness on healthy ingredients, reduce diet-related diseases, among other things.

Boudreau said it's good to eat locally grown food because "when you go into a supermarket you don't know where 90% of the food in that supermarkets come from."